Less than a month since the release of their album, We Don’t Trust You, Future and Metro Boomin return for the sequel, We Still Don’t Trust You, a double album attempting to do many things at once, while having two clear agendas:
1- Thrusting Future into the conversation of being one of the key pillars of post Kanye, Wayne, and 50 Cent Hip Hop
2- Entrenching Metro Boomin as one of the best soundsmiths of our era.
Over 25 songs, it’s not clear upon the first few listens if both agendas are reconciled with the listener but, it’s clear one mission is accomplished, a statement (perhaps a few were made).
The first half of the album (Disc 1) leans heavy into the R&B, soul, pop bag of Pluto,who as an artist has adeptly and successfully straddled the line of crooning and rapping for over decade. An enigma in rap, Future has alway been a dichotomy of various musical influences and interests. A Trap Music infused mix of Roger Troutman, Lil Jon, Andre 3000 and yes, Drake, Future through song and style has given his audience indadvertently perhaps a glimpse of it. The more interesting takeaway of Disc 1 is found in Metro Boomin’s production. Songs like “We Still Don’t Trust You”, “Mile High Memories”, “All To Myself” finds the boardsman comfortable in the dance world, crafting melodic arrangements that Future and The Weeknd (featured on 3 songs) use to create the soundtrack of parties, lounges, and perhaps bedrooms from South Beach to Ibiza.
The highlight of the album’s first half comes in the form of J.Cole on “Red Leather”. One third of the self proclaimed ‘Big 3’ and fresh off his response and retraction to Kendrick Lamar (which stemmed from the later’s verse on Future and Metro’s We Don’t Trust You song “Like That”), Cole soulfully reminds the listener how versatile of an emcee he is by lyrically deconstructing his conflicts with women and relationships over the 7 minute track. It’s a striking reminder of the multifaceted Dreamville leader, a contrast showing with one hand he can fire off scathing rebukes to the opps (see MDL track ‘Pi’) and then tenderly provide a bop for the ladies. It’s a “Drakian” skill few rap artists have mastered.
Speaking of Drake, the 6 God’s (although he makes no appearance on the album) presence looms large over the proceedings of both albums in the Don’t Trust You series. This is most evident on the “Intro” of Disc 2, where Future and Metro leverage a snippet where Charlemagne tha God is giving Future his flowers to interject Pluto into the “Big 3” conversation. While Future doesn’t overtly use lyrics to take aim at Drake, the inclusion of the snippet gives us a glimpse of what he is thinking.
Disc 2 is the “rap side” of the project and while it has some high moments Future and Metro never quite capture the magic or energy of DS2, What A Time To Be Alive or songs like “Wicked” or “Hater Shit”. It’s as if the R&B musings of the duo in the earlier part of the album diffused the energy and the bite of the Hip Hop influenced tracks. And while “We Don’t Trust You” had its statement with the Kendrick Lamar diss verse on “Like That”, ASAP Rocky attempts to run it back on “Show Your Hands”.
The Harlem emcee who hasn’t dropped an album since 2018, joins the cadre of rappers aiming for Drake. Where the beef stems from who knows but if we read between the lines of ASAP’s lyrics it seems to stem from a woman or a few women. Although not as buzzworthy as K.Dot’s turn, it is refreshing to hear ASAP Rocky in a competitive space again as he is often forgotten in Hip Hop discussions, a similar fate as artists such as Wale and Lupe Fiasco, rappers with huge movements but seemed to be dwarfed by their contemporaries (Drake, Cole, Kendrick) in recent years.
“We Still Don’t Trust You” is a project with lofty ambitions. While it largely hits its mark, the final reception from hip-hop audiences remains to be seen. However, two things are undeniable: Future continues his reign as the undisputed Trap Soul King, and Metro Boomin remains a vital force shaping not just Future’s sound, but the sonic landscape of hip-hop itself.
